A Detroit casino’s sign beams above the garage where two children sleeping in a van are quietly freezing to death. Ann can see the sign, not the warning, from her kitchen three blocks away. She lowers the blinds and goes back to slicing the tender yellow flesh of a pineapple.
Lauren is an Assistant Professor of Mortuary Science. She enjoys writing poetry that leans into short fictional fragments.
Joe Smith sizes up the pizza delivery guy through the peephole: manicured mustache, uniform too tight, possible U.S. Marshal. He slides twenty-five bucks through the mail slot.
“Keep the change.”
“Thanks. You gonna open the door?”
“Set the pie on the porch.”
“There’s ants.”
“A little extra protein won’t hurt.”
Hawkelson Rainier dabbles in prose and poetry. His novel, The Lake Erie Lights, is available online.
“If all the world’s a stage and we’re all merely players,” Jemimah railed, “then why’s my life such a dumpster fire in the theatre’s back alley?” Jem had always been known for such drama, usurping her own agency for the opportunity to perform for the cheap seats with a flourish.
Chelan Kingfisher loves dogs. She lives on a beautiful island in the Pacific Northwest with her two best friends, Arrow and Bella. Chelan is the author of one novel and several guided journals. You can visit her website at chelankingfisherauthor.com.
You noticed me?
Some notice their noon-dark shadows don’t move quite right. Others, when they stare into the gloom, see eyes looking back. I’ve been called a house settling, while others swear I live in darkness just beneath the bed.
But you’ve seen me outright.
We’ll have to fix that.
Solomon Knight is an avid reader and writer based out of Louisiana. He has been published by Silent Spark Press. Most days, he can be found daydreaming about grand adventures.
Your mom said you suffered, but smiled through the end. They buried you by the treeline, just over the hill from our first kiss, in the woods, hiding from the rest. I’ll remember you from then, uniform of Batman tee, Chuck Taylors, a crooked grin. Seventeen forever, in my mind.
Eve Cook lives in Atlanta, where she often uses writing to cope with ‘the horrors,’ et al.
‘You weren’t worth it.’ The simple truth, stated for the first time. Words that ripple far into the past, acknowledging years of dog-like devotion.
Words that ripple far into the future, opening avenues of opportunity previously ignored.
A subtle change of emphasis creates even more distance. “He wasn’t worth it.”
Madeleine McDonald is a former precis-writer who relishes the challenge of flash and micro fiction.
He saw the other man across the ridge.
Broad-faced. Heavy-browed. Uncanny curiosity in his eyes.
They watched each other without language.
He felt warning rise in his chest.
The other lowered his spear first.
The world held two kinds of man. Both fearful and weary.
Neither certain who would endure.
Bobby Battle Jr. is a speculative fiction author, who enjoys telling stories big or small. Thank you for your consideration.
My memories are all that I have now. The dust of a long lifetime coating the writing table of my mind, afraid of the slightest breeze or sneeze sending it all back in to the universe, mixing with all the random memories of those who have sneezed and breezed before.
Jimmy is a writer from Portland, Oregon. Having worked in the horticultural side of life for over 30 years, he is now working on a book about his backpacking adventures around South Asia in the early 1990’s.
The epiphany comes at midnight.
Everything matters less than you think.
There is more nothing than distant starlight.
Dark Matter is God’s backswing, and here you wait
fumbling to light your one candle, trying to see
the outline of your family in the dark,
passing the lighter, survivors.
Ed McManis’ work has appeared in more than 70 publications including Coolest American Stories 2025. His most recent chapbooks are “The Zombie Family Takes a Selfie” Bottlecap Press, and “Trash Truck 7:38 A.M. (And Other Love Poems”). He, along with his wife, Linda, have published esteemed author Joanne Greenberg’s (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden) latest novel, Jubilee Year. Little known trivia fact: he holds the outdoor free-throw record at Camp Santa Maria: 67 in a row.